Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The plan display how campus cafe look before redesign and after redesign
Overall, Major change in new plan is addition of outdoor seating, replace staff dining rooms and serving area. Rest remain the same
New plan introduced outdoor seating with barbecue facility. Staff dining and rooms in old plan is repalced with take away food counter and coffe bar in new plan. Serveing area for all food and drink is now turned into hot meals counter
In new design salad bar counter is added near to entry to outdoor seating, Bins changed to recycling bins. Rest of the cafe remain the same
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response only partially addresses the task requirements. First, the length requirement is not met, as the student has written only 102 words, falling well short of the 150-word minimum. Regarding content, the student attempts to summarise the main features, such as the addition of outdoor seating and the replacement of the staff dining rooms, which aligns with a partial coverage of the task. However, the details are somewhat limited and under-developed, and the overview is very brief and basic. To reach a higher level, the student must write a fully developed response that meets the word count and provides a more thorough and extended comparison of all key spatial changes between the two plans.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the information into an introduction, body points, and a brief overview. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty and mechanical. The student relies on basic transitions or abrupt shifts between paragraphs, such as starting sentences with 'New plan introduced' and 'In new design' without smooth linking devices. Paragraphing is attempted, but the paragraphs are very short and fragmented. To improve, the writer needs to ensure a clearer logical progression and use a wider variety of cohesive devices more accurately to connect ideas across sentences and paragraphs seamlessly.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing basic descriptions such as 'outdoor seating', 'barbecue facility', and 'salad bar counter'. However, there is a limited range of vocabulary, and noticeable errors in word form and spelling occur throughout the response, such as 'display' instead of 'displays', 'coffe' instead of 'coffee', and 'Serveing' instead of 'Serving'. These errors, while not completely impeding communication, reflect a restricted lexical control. To achieve a higher band, the student should incorporate a wider and more flexible range of less common lexical items related to architectural changes and spatial descriptions, while improving spelling and word formation accuracy.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing exhibits a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple sentences or faulty attempts at complex ones. Frequent errors in grammar are apparent, including subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'The plan display', 'Staff dining and rooms... is repalced'), missing articles (e.g., 'before redesign and after redesign', 'near to entry'), and incorrect verb forms. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate weak control over basic grammatical structures. To progress, the student must produce a better mix of simple and complex sentence forms while eliminating basic errors in verb tenses, agreements, and article usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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